During her early career, T'Pol operated as an agent with the Ministry of Security. Through this work, she often contacted Klingons within the Klingon Empire who, years later, would help her locate a Klingon penal colony, Rura Penthe. (ENT: "Judgment") One of T'Pol's first assignments for the Ministry was to retrieve seven rogue agents who refused to return to Vulcan. Managing to capture five of the seven she was assigned to locate, T'Pol tracked agents Jossen and Menos to Risa in 2135. There, she killed Jossen but was unable to capture Menos. T'Pol thereafter underwent the Fullara ceremony at the sanctuary of P'Jem, which erased her memory of having killed Jossen, along with any associated emotions. (ENT: "The Seventh")

Regarding how T'Pol's pre-Enterprise career is depicted in "The Seventh", Brannon Braga recalled, "We wanted to create an eyebrow-raising past for T'Pol, because she's lived for quite a long time [when the rest of the episode is set]. What if she used to be a La'Femme Nikita-type character?" (Star Trek: Communicator issue 145, p. 25)

One night in 2150, T'Pol left the Vulcan Compound and went south to stroll the streets of San Francisco. Overhearing "unusual, chaotic" jazzmusic piqued her curiosity, so she entered the Fusion restaurant, where the music was being performed, and listened to the saxophonist there. The experience elicited an emotional response that she subsequently never forgot. (ENT: "Fusion")

Sometime during her stay on Earth, T'Pol took a five-day leave to visit Carbon Creek and see it for herself. (ENT: "Carbon Creek")

In the revised final draft script of ENT pilot episode "Broken Bow", T'Pol's position, as of 2151, was stated to be "a science attache with the Vulcan contingent headquartered in San Francisco." A subsequent comment pointed out, "Although she's been living amongst Humans for several months, she is cautious and guarded around them." [1]

In the writers' second draft script of "Breaking the Ice", T'Pol admitted that, prior to her assignment to Enterprise, she had been planning to live on Vulcan (with Koss) and take a director's position at the Vulcan Science Academy.

After Earth accidentally made first contact with the Klingon courier Klaang in April 2151, T'Pol was reassigned to the Earth Starfleet vessel Enterprise, with the rank of sub-commander. She acted as "chaperone", in exchange for the Vulcan provision of star charts and the Klingon linguisticdatabase, but was not immediately accepted by the crew. She was referred to as a "spy" by the ship's chief engineer, Commander Charles Tucker III. During an ensuing mission to return Klaang to his homeworld, however, T'Pol accompanied Captain Jonathan Archer and an away team to a trade complex on Rigel X. There, she used her prior experience with alien cultures to lead the Humans through much of the investigation. She subsequently took command of Enterprise, when Archer was incapacitated, and anticipated the captain's wishes, pursuing the investigation despite her personal belief that it was a "foolish mission." Upon the captain's recuperation, T'Pol aided Archer both in uncovering a plot by the Suliban Cabal to destabilize the Klingon Empire and successfully returning Klaang to his people. T'Pol was persuaded by Archer to remain aboard, following the conclusion of the mission, at which time she took the position of science officer and the title of first officer of Enterprise. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Her quarters aboard Enterprise were located on B Deck. (ENT: "Shockwave, Part II")

T'Pol was again forced to utilize playacting in a crisis when she pretended to be a slave of Captain Archer, in order to gain the sympathies of Ferengipirates in late 2151. With Archer and Tucker, T'Pol was able to trick the Ferengi into leaving Enterprise, but not before they returned materialsstolen from the ship. (ENT: "Acquisition")

As Enterprise continued to explore space, the Vulcan High Command assigned at least one vessel to monitor the ship's activities. One of those vessels, the starship Ti'Mur under the command of Captain Vanik, began secretly transmitting personal messages to T'Pol, regarding her betrothal to Koss and obligation to return to Vulcan. During a "comet walk" on the surface of Archer's Comet, LieutenantMalcolm Reed and Ensign Mayweather were trapped in an ice collapse. After persuading Archer, T'Pol contacted the Ti'Mur and enlisted the aid of Captain Vanik, to whom she declared her intention to stay aboard Enterprise. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")

In the writers' second draft script of "Breaking the Ice", T'Pol mentioned that both Vanik's name and his reputation were unfamiliar to her prior to their encounter in 2151.

Following the destruction of the monastery, the Vulcan High Command chose to blame T'Pol and ordered that she be recalled to Vulcan, dispatching the starship Ni'Var under the command of Captain Sopek. During what would have been her final mission, T'Pol and Archer were captured by Coridan rebels but escaped in time to prevent the death of Sopek. T'Pol was injured, during a fire fight, so she returned to Enterprise while Sopek departed to dissuade the High Command of their initial orders. (ENT: "Shadows of P'Jem")

Early in 2152, T'Pol and her crewmates re-encountered the Suliban and were framed for the destruction of a settlement on Paraagan II, an incident that had resulted in the deaths of 3,600 colonists. T'Pol was instrumental in proving the crew's innocence, detecting a cloaked Suliban device and helping in the retrieval of data disks from a Suliban vessel. Upon the disappearance of Captain Archer and capture of Enterprise, T'Pol led the crew in retaking the ship, successfully freeing it from a Suliban helix. During this incident, T'Pol was tortuouslyinterrogated by Suliban commander Silik for information regarding the "Temporal Cold War". T'Pol cited the Vulcan Science Directorate's findings, steadfastly maintaining that time travel was impossible. Suffering no lasting effects from the experience, T'Pol was able to convince Ambassador Soval and Starfleet to continue Enterprise's mission, upon the safe return of Captain Archer. (ENT: "Shockwave", "Shockwave, Part II")

In August 2152, T'Pol's Vulcan physiology left her the only crewmember conscious aboard Enterprise when it encountered a debilitating trinarystar system. She was left alone to save the ship but was able to revive Captain Archer, long enough to help him pilot Enterprise through the system and away from a black hole. (ENT: "Singularity")

T'Pol stuns Menos on Pernaia Prime

Seventeen years after her initial stint with the Ministry of Security, T'Pol once again found herself in pursuit of the rogue agent Menos. She now managed to trace him to Pernaia Prime, but began to doubt her mission and the guilt of Menos. Overcoming those doubts, however, she was able to prove that he was indeed a weapons smuggler and succeeded in apprehending the fugitive. (ENT: "The Seventh")

Concerning how T'Pol was further developed in "The Seventh", Brannon Braga noted, "We wanted to get under her skin a little bit and deal with issues she doesn't normally have to deal with, like guilt." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 145, p. 25)

In the final draft script of ENT: "Precious Cargo", T'Pol – while playing the character of a stern judge – was described thus; "She emanates an air of detached authority."

After a group of Vulcan doctors at the Interspecies Medical Exchange learned that T'Pol had contracted a deadly neurological disease called Pa'nar Syndrome, her future aboard Enterprise was at stake. The team of doctors threatened to reveal her status to the High Command and have her recalled, as those who were infected were stigmatised in Vulcan society. To save her, Dr. Yuris – the youngest of the Vulcan doctors – declared himself to be among the minority and revealed to the others that T'Pol wasn't to blame for having contracted the disease. (ENT: "Stigma")

With tensions between Vulcan and Andoria continuing to mount – following the incident at P'Jem – T'Pol accompanied Captain Archer and Ambassador Soval to the planet Paan Mokar, to mediate a territorial dispute. The group came under fire and crashed on the surface of the planet, where T'Pol helped Archer to protect the ambassador from further attack. Ultimately helping bring about a cease fire on the planet, the efforts of T'Pol and Archer allowed negotiations to commence. (ENT: "Cease Fire")

Following a Xindi attack on Earth on April 24, 2153, Enterprise was recalled home and underwent a major refit in preparation for a mission into the Delphic Expanse. Because this mission was seen by the Vulcan High Command as being an Earth matter, Ambassador Soval ordered T'Pol to return to Vulcan, to be reassigned to the Ministry of Information. It was expected that, after a brief time at the Ministry, she would be allowed to return to Earth to continue her diplomatic duties. However, T'Pol resisted. As Enterprise set course for Vulcan to deliver T'Pol home and proceed to the Expanse, she abruptly resigned her commission and chose to remain aboard. (ENT: "The Expanse") During her tenure as technically a civilian amongst the crew, T'Pol wore a variety of bodysuits in a variety of different color schemes. These included blue/grey, white, and muted pastel. T'Pol later continued to wear a collection of bodysuits adorned with rank insignia, assignment patch and so on when she joined Starfleet.

Not long after their arrival in the Expanse, the crew of Enterprise located T'Pol's former ship, the Seleya, which was caught in a trellium-Dasteroid field. She, Archer and Reed took a shuttlepod to rendezvous with the Seleya, where they found the ship's surviving crew suffering from severe dementia and homicidal rage. Discovering Commander Solin among the survivors, T'Pol was unable to reason with her former shipmates and simultaneously found herself succumbing to feelings of paranoia and anger. She started to lead Archer and Reed through the damaged Vulcan vessel to find an escape route, but began to suspect that Archer meant to murder the ship's Vulcan survivors and refused to cooperate. As the group neared escape, T'Pol became violent and was stunned by Archer until she could receive treatment aboard Enterprise. (ENT: "Impulse")

Dr. Phlox managed to treat T'Pol for exposure to trellium-D found aboard the Seleya, determining it to be a powerful neurotoxin that affected only the Vulcan nervous system. This finding, however, meant that the substance could not be used to shield Enterprise from spatial anomalies that were inherent to the Expanse. T'Pol understood the importance of Enterprise's safe completion of the mission and therefore urged Archer to leave her behind, but the captain refused. (ENT: "Impulse")

Despite making what appeared to be a full recovery, T'Pol continued to experience the aftereffects of her exposure; she was haunted by nightmares and residual instability, occasionally becoming emotional and even violent. (ENT: "Harbinger", "Azati Prime", "Damage") In the hopes of further releasing her emotions, T'Pol secretly developed a method of injecting small doses of trellium-D directly into her bloodstream. By February of 2154, T'Pol had become addicted to the substance, finally admitting her condition to Dr. Phlox, who aided her in withdrawal. However, prolonged exposure to the substance permanently damaged T'Pol's ability to fully control her emotions. (ENT: "Damage", "E²", "The Forgotten")

Brannon Braga found T'Pol's addiction to trellium-D turned out to be an intriguing story arc. "I find [it] fascinating [...] And T'Pol's motivation for doing it was set up in the early days of this series, that she's experimented with emotions before. Her trying trellium-D was an extension of that," Braga observed. "She thought she'd found a way to perhaps access those long-repressed emotions and enter a different state of mind. And she got into trouble. To me, that's what makes interesting character drama, that characters make mistakes." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 151, p. 33)

Still skeptical of time travel, T'Pol's position on the Temporal Cold War was finally upended when she and Captain Archer visited Detroit of the year 2004. They were aided by temporal agent and former Crewman Daniels upon their visit to the past, into which the pair of Enterprise officers had traced several Xindi-Reptilians. Together with Archer, T'Pol prevented the Xindi invaders from releasing a bio-weapon on Earth and exposed the involvement of the Xindi's gods, the Guardians. (ENT: "Carpenter Street")

In ultimately omitted dialogue from the final draft script of "Carpenter Street", T'Pol responded to Archer asking her, during their time-traveling mission, if she was now convinced they were no longer in the 22nd century. Answering indirectly, T'Pol replied, "There are elevated levels of carbon monoxide and ozone. They're interfering with my scans," a statement Archer took to mean "Yes."

T'Pol later used information, provided by Andorian Commander Shran, to study a prototype of the final Xindi weapon, tracing its construction to a planet called Azati Prime. (ENT: "Proving Ground") En route to Azati, Enterprise encountered a planet containing a crashed Xindi-Insectoid vessel. Captain Archer made an attempt to investigate the ship but became altered by a chemical toxin, making him unwilling to abandon an Insectoidhatchery and jeopardizing the mission. Acting in collusion with Tucker and Reed, T'Pol led a mutiny to take control of Enterprise and forced Archer to receive treatment. (ENT: "Hatchery")

Upon arrival in the Azati Prime star system, Archer set out alone to destroy the Xindi weapon, in what was presumed to be a suicide mission, but he was captured and tortured by Xindi-Reptilians. T'Pol meanwhile commanded Enterprise in a defensive battle against a fleet of Reptilian warships. (ENT: "Azati Prime") Enterprise took severe damage and was nearly destroyed in the encounter but managed to escape with severe casualties. Suffering withdrawal from trellium-D, T'Pol worked to restore the ship to operation, when Archer was returned by Xindi-Aquatics. He acted against her advice by resolving to attack an alien vessel for much-needed supplies. T'Pol resumed command of Enterprise to conduct this battle and managed to do so in a precise manner, the short conflict resulting in minimum damage on both sides. (ENT: "Damage")

Commanding the severely damaged Enterprise

As a two-pronged final attempt at preventing both the release of the Xindi weapon and the destruction of Earth, T'Pol and the Enterprise crew were ordered to destroy the Guardians' (or Sphere-Builders') devices, while Archer and allied Xindi intercepted the weapon at Sector 001. T'Pol and Commander Tucker took Enterprise to Sphere 41 – a central location where they succeeded in destroying the entire sphere network, thus dissipating the anomaly fields and thermobaric barrier that formed the Expanse. With Archer missing – though successful in his mission to destroy the Xindi weapon – T'Pol commanded Enterprise during the journey back to Earth. With the entire crew unsure of the future, she considered formalizing her own service with Starfleet. (ENT: "Zero Hour") Enterprise made another detour to Earth's past and Captain Archer finally returned to the ship, after which T'Pol and her crewmates arrived at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, where they were welcomed as heroes. By 2154, AdmiralForrest had approved T'Pol's entry into Starfleet and she was officially assigned the rank of commander. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II", "Home", "Borderland")

Following a brief shore leave in which T'Pol returned to Vulcan, the crew of Enterprise was recalled to duty, tasked with the capture of renegade Human "Augments", in May 2154. Before the vessel departed, Captain Archer gave T'Pol the gift of an antique compass in honor of her first official day of Starfleet duty. T'Pol was visibly moved by the gesture. Enterprise traveled to the Borderland, where the ship was attacked by Orion slavers who used their transporters to kidnap several members of the crew. T'Pol was among the captured and was taken to a facility on Verex III, where she was put up for auction as a slave laborer. Fetching a high price, T'Pol was returned to a cell from which she later escaped when Captain Archer successfully freed his crew. (ENT: "Borderland")

Following the capture of the Augments, Enterprise was ordered to Vulcan to investigate the bombing of the United Earth Embassy, a recent devastation which had resulted in the deaths of forty-three people (among them, Admiral Forrest). Shortly after discovering that her mother (T'Les) was a member of the Syrrannites – an underground movement who were deemed responsible for the bombing – T'Pol left the ship to locate her mother and was transported with Archer to Vulcan's Forge. The Starfleet duo tracked the Syrrannites to the T'Karath Sanctuary, where T'Pol and Archer found the group to be peaceful, far from the fanatics described by the Vulcan High Command. (ENT: "The Forge")

With Archer at Vulcan's Forge

Not long after T'Pol and Archer arrived at T'Karath, the sanctuary was attacked and destroyed by the Vulcan government, killing many Syrrannites, including T'Les. (ENT: "Awakening") T'Pol, strongly affected by her mother's death, traveled with Archer and the Syrrannite leader T'Pau to the Vulcan capital to deliver the Kir'Shara – an ancientartifact containing the teachings of Surak – to the High Command, whose members included AdministratorV'Las. T'Pol and her companions were successful in their goal; the revelation of Surak's true teachings, in whose delivery T'Pol had played an instrumental role, brought about the dissolution of the existing Vulcan government and initiated a new wave of enlightenment to the planet, absolving the Syrrannites of guilt and ultimately removing any restrictions that the former government had placed on Earth's advancement into space. (ENT: "Kir'Shara")

T'Pol and Tucker were rescued from Mars by an away team led by Captain Archer, and, once Paxton was taken into custody, they returned to Enterprise with their daughter. Aboard the ship, Dr. Phlox discovered a flaw in the process used to create the child, and she died a short time later. Despite this loss, both T'Pol and Tucker were present in San Francisco for the formal founding of the Coalition. (ENT: "Demons")

T'Pol continued to serve aboard Enterprise as science officer through the 2150s and into the 2160s, retaining her position as first officer with the rank of commander. In 2161, the long-thought-dead General Shran returned, asking for assistance from Enterprise in the recovery of his kidnapped child, Talla. T'Pol contributed to this return effort by fabricating a replica of the Tenebian amethyst and serving as a member of an away team that was transported to Rigel X, where she exchanged the fake gemstone for Shran's child.

In a stage direction from the final draft script of "These Are the Voyages...", T'Pol was said to be "as close to tears as we've ever seen," following the death of her mother and Tucker. This ignores the fact T'Pol was previously seen crying on screen after Archer left for his presumed suicide mission on Azati Prime (ENT: "Azati Prime") as well as after the death of her mother T'Les. (ENT: "Awakening")

As one of the first Vulcans to serve aboard an Earth starship, T'Pol's Vulcan physiology made her, in many cases, stronger and more physically resilient than her Human crewmates. When she was involved in an away team that explored the planet later called Archer IV and the group became affected by a powerful and paranoia-inducing toxin which was spread by pollen in the local area, T'Pol, though not completely immune from this toxin, maintained her composure whereas her Human companions did not; she reverted to her native language but remained lucid enough to administer an antidote. (ENT: "Strange New World")

T'Pol suffering from the Loque'eque virus

T'Pol's physiology also made her resistant to the influence of the non-corporeal wisps that boarded Enterprise in 2152. Capable of taking over the bodies of members of the ship's crew, the lifeforms were unable to affect T'Pol, who used a telepathic link to learn about the entities. (ENT: "The Crossing") Later in 2152, T'Pol proved to be immune to the affects of the trinary star system encountered by Enterprise, when Human and even Denobulan members of the crew began experiencing obsessive behavior and eventually unconsciousness. (ENT: "Singularity")

In 2153, when T'Pol was exposed to an alien mutagenic virus in the Delphic Expanse, it mutated her DNA to resemble that of an ancient species called the Loque'eque. The progression of this illness, however, was slowed by her immune system, preventing her from being as affected by exposure to the virus as Jonathan Archer, Malcolm Reed, and Hoshi Sato were. (ENT: "Extinction")

In late December2154, T'Pol was unaffected by powerful pheromones emitted by a triumvirate of Orion slave girls, who boarded Enterprise in order to deliver it to the Orion Syndicate. As a threat to the Orion women, T'Pol was briefly imprisoned in the ship's brig, but she finally managed to save the ship with the assistance of Commander Tucker. (ENT: "Bound")

Within the next year, it was discovered that the less-than-voluntary mind meld had created a degradation in the synaptic pathways of T'Pol's brain, a deadly neurological disease that was known as Pa'nar Syndrome. Dr. Phlox was unable to treat the affliction alone, so he sought the assistance of Vulcan members of the Interspecies Medical Exchange, but to little avail. (ENT: "Stigma") During her time with the Syrrannite T'Pau, T'Pol learned Pa'nar was treatable through the proper use of a mind meld. T'Pau administered the meld, and T'Pol was cured. (ENT: "Kir'Shara")

Under the guidance of Captain Archer, T'Pol safely initiated a mind meld with Ensign Hoshi Sato in 2154. (ENT: "Affliction")

Following the destruction of the secret base at P'Jem, the Vulcan High Command sought to place blame for the incident with T'Pol but were unable to reach her in the Expanse. The High Command therefore censured T'Les, forcing her resignation as an instructor at the Vulcan Science Academy. T'Pol was initially unaware of the true reasons for her mother's early retirement and was later outraged to learn the truth. (ENT: "Home")

Possessing a somewhat tumultuous relationship with T'Pol, T'Les was nonetheless a keen observer of her daughter. T'Les held more traditional values than T'Pol and believed that T'Pol's work should have been focused on the betterment of Vulcan society. Nevertheless, T'Les observed that there was more to life than one's profession – an ideal she believed T'Pol would benefit from learning. (ENT: "Home")

T'Pol holds T'Les as she dies

Given shore leave following the completion of the Xindi mission, T'Pol returned home to Vulcan, with Commander Tucker as her guest. During this visit, T'Les urged T'Pol to fulfill her obligation to her family and proceed with her arranged marriage to Koss. At first resistant to the prospect of marriage, T'Pol ultimately relented and agreed to the marriage on the grounds that it would benefit T'Les. (ENT: "Home")

Later in 2154, T'Pol was reunited with her mother soon after learning that T'Les had joined the Syrrannite underground movement. T'Pol came to consider her mother as being far less traditional than she herself had previously thought and helped further her mother's cause, working to dissolve the Vulcan High Command. Sadly, T'Les was killed when the High Command destroyed the Syrrannites' base of operations. T'Pol held her dying mother in her arms and wept for T'Les, who had previously observed that her daughter had always kept her emotions close to the surface. (ENT: "Home", "Awakening")

In her life, T'Les possessed a pendant featuring the Vulcan symbol for IDIC. Following the discovery of her own infant daughter, T'Pol placed the pendant in her child's crib. (ENT: "The Forge", "Terra Prime")

After escaping from a Suliban helix in 2152, T'Pol, Captain Archer, and Commander Tucker celebrated the one-year anniversary of the start of Enterprise's mission. To commemorate the occasion, T'Pol revealed the story of her second foremother, T'Mir. T'Pol framed the story as though it were fictitious, although she had previously visited the site of T'Mir's crash, in Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. T'Pol also kept T'Mir's handbag in a locker in her quarters, as a memento of the event. (ENT: "Carbon Creek")

At an early age, T'Pol was arranged to be married to Koss, who became an architect. In 2151, she was instructed (in a message relayed by the Ti'Mur) to return to Vulcan, in order to marry Koss. However, she received advice from Commander Tucker that she had the right to remain unmarried if she so decided. It was after this that she opted not to journey back to Vulcan to marry Koss, instead choosing to stay aboard Enterprise. (ENT: "Breaking the Ice")

After her return to Vulcan following the Xindi incident, T'Pol still refused to marry him. Koss visited her and admitted that he wanted to marry her. He attempted to persuade her by offering to let her resume her career if she spent one year with him on Vulcan. He also offered to help her mother regain her position at the academy from which she had been dismissed because of T'Pol's involvement with the incident at P'Jem. Koss and T'Pol were finally married in 2154. Later that year, Koss ended his marriage with T'Pol after the death of her mother, T'Les. Shortly thereafter, their marriage was officially dissolved. Despite their marriage having been arranged, Koss genuinely cared for T'Pol, giving Archer his transporter codes so he and T'Pau could reach the Vulcan High Command. He later told T'Pol that he had done this because Archer had told him T'Pol had been in trouble and that providing the codes was how he could help her. (ENT: "Home", "Kir'Shara", "Babel One")

While in her early schooling, T'Pol traveled a great distance to see distinguished Vulcan ambassador V'Lar at Vulcana Regar. During a recess of the second Ka'Tann Conference, T'Pol questioned the ambassador about her negotiating tactics. V'Lar later recalled those questions to have been "presumptuous" but also key in having made her reconsider some of her previous positions. Likewise, T'Pol credited V'Lar for having inspired her career path, leading to her work with the Science Council and eventually to her work with Starfleet.

On February 9, 2152, T'Pol reunited with the ambassador when Enterprise was ordered to escort V'Lar from the planet Mazar to Vulcan. Finding her to have changed since their initial meeting, T'Pol was surprised at V'Lar's levity and willingness to explore Earth culture. T'Pol was at first disappointed with her second interaction with the ambassador but came to once again respect V'Lar as a personal hero. (ENT: "Fallen Hero")

Although there was some tension when the two first met in 2151, T'Pol and Captain Jonathan Archer eventually became lasting friends, with a bond of trust and friendship between them. Though she may not have always agreed with the captain's style of command, she came to respect his judgment.

Initially, Archer held a grudge against T'Pol, believing that she would be just like all other Vulcans and that her only goal would be to hold Humanity back. She was also not particularly fond of his pet dog, Porthos. (ENT: "Broken Bow")

In the final draft script of "Carpenter Street", T'Pol invited Porthos, along with Archer, into her quarters. T'Pol doesn't so in the final version of the installment, in which Porthos simply scurries into T'Pol's quarters nonetheless. After he exits, she reacts with an unscripted brief facial expression of distaste.

On the mission to Qo'noS, T'Pol's actions of assuming command and leading Enterprise in anticipation of the wishes of Captain Archer, who had been wounded and rendered unconscious for several hours, ultimately afforded Archer a newfound respect for her. (ENT: "Broken Bow") T'Pol ultimately became the captain's trusted and able first officer, second in command, and one of his most trusted advisers during the problems they faced during their missions. The emotional strength of her bond of friendship with Archer was made clear in many instances.

Archer and T'Pol sharing a blanket while being held hostage at the monastery

One of the first situations that demonstrated the captain's trust, respect, and his willingness to show T'Pol the same respect as any officer under his command was in his response to Tolaris having forced a mind meld onto T'Pol, essentially assaulting her. Archer, in turn, was angry and protective of T'Pol, and made Tolaris betray his volatile emotional state. (ENT: "Fusion")

When Ambassador V'Lar visited Enterprise in 2152, she sensed a great bond between Archer and T'Pol, of "trust... and friendship." (ENT: "Fallen Hero")

T'Pol received support from Archer when she was sent on the emotionally troubling mission of apprehending Menos for the Vulcans. Archer accompanied her in an attempt to help her overcome her feelings of self-doubt, and the incident solidified the trust between the two. (ENT: "The Seventh")

In the final draft script of "Singularity", T'Pol offered more help to Archer than she does in the final edit of that episode. She firstly offered to help him change his uniform and later asked if he required extra coffee. However, both offers were declined by Archer. [2]

T'Pol, in turn, was there for him when a good friend and former rival of his, A.G. Robinson, died. She listened to Archer tell a story about the two of them and figuratively offered him a shoulder to lean on. (ENT: "First Flight")

T'Pol cries for Archer

Archer routinely tried to persuade T'Pol to interact with the crew. At the captain's suggestion, she even attended one of the ship's movie nights, which were held regularly. She was fond of the film Frankenstein, as it reminded her of first contact with Humans. (ENT: "Horizon")

Another example of T'Pol's friendship with Archer was when she resigned her commission with the Vulcan High Command to accompany him and the rest of Enterprise's crew on the Xindi mission, to spite the insistence of her superiors that she be recalled and reassigned. (ENT: "The Expanse")

Yet another demonstration of her bond with the captain was when Archer turned over command of Enterprise to T'Pol and then left on what everyone aboard the ship, including him, considered a suicide mission to Azati Prime, to finally stop the Xindi weapon. T'Pol, unable to control her emotions, hurriedly gave Commander Tucker the conn and went alone to the captain's ready room, where she started crying. (ENT: "Azati Prime")

T'Pol was with Archer even years later, as he prepared to make a speech at the signing of the Federation Charter. Overcome with emotion, Archer embraced T'Pol backstage before giving his speech. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

In the ENT series bible, T'Pol was described as having "a grudging respect for Captain Archer, who has proven to her that humanity has the potential to exceed its limitations."

Rick Berman and Brannon Braga originally conceived of T'Pol's relationship with Archer very differently and immutable to how it turned out; despite the numerous changes in how they connected with each other, Berman once stated, "There will always be a sparring dynamic between T'Pol and Archer." (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 7, p. 19)

Brannon Braga believed T'Pol's relationship with Archer was significant to Star Trek in general. "We see in the T'Pol/Archer relationship a microcosm of how Humans and Vulcans came to be so close," he observed. "They have their respective gripes with each other. And seeing T'Pol and Archer grapple through those preconceptions is what Star Trek is all about." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 139, p. 26)

In 2152, Jonathan Archer began harboring an attraction to his science officer. Any romantic aspect of this relationship was never pursued; T'Pol let the captain know that they could not "hypothetically" allow any attraction between themselves to become realized, indicating a reminder to him that he was her superior officer. (ENT: "A Night in Sickbay")

In an alternate timeline, Archer was afflicted with anterograde amnesia, as a result of being struck by a temporal anomaly from which he was trying to save T'Pol. After she assumed command of Enterprise but failed to save Earth from being destroyed by the Xindi, T'Pol resigned her captaincy and spent twelve years caring for Archer on Ceti Alpha V. She learned more about him, over the years, while he continuously forgot everything past the day he had become ill. It became apparent to T'Pol, however, that she had started to harbor romantic feelings for Archer, although nothing could come of it due to his illness. By 2165, a way had been found to eradicate the interspatial parasites that were preventing Archer from forming new memories. Phlox suggested to T'Pol that, if the treatment worked, the relationship between her and Archer might be different.

Ultimately, it was found that destroying the parasites infesting Archer's brain in the present also destroyed them in the past, preventing them from ever infecting Archer and thereby effectively erasing the alternate timeline in which he and T'Pol now found themselves. Utilizing this method meant the destruction of Enterprise and the deaths of its crew, a virtual inevitability due to the Xindi's extremely intense attack on the ship, but it was nevertheless decided that this method would indeed be used. Before the ship exploded, however, Phlox, T'Pol, and Archer were struck down by Xind-Reptilian soldiers, with T'Pol dying in Archer's arms and he, having used his last breath to initiate the subspace implosion, dying on top of the lifeless T'Pol. (ENT: "Twilight")

In "Twilight", T'Pol's development of a romantic attraction to Archer and the escalation of their relationship is suggested in dialogue between the two characters themselves, such as T'Pol saying that their relationship has "evolved" over the years, as well as between other characters, including Phlox, who comments that it must have been hard for T'Pol to learn so much about Archer when he would remember nothing about her.

In a scene description from the final draft script of "Twilight", it was made clear this version of T'Pol hadn't considered returning to Vulcan in the event of Archer being cured, though he (in ultimately omitted dialogue from the same scripted scene) expected she would be looking forward to doing so.

Brannon Braga once commented, "There was something very poignant about T'Pol never leaving Archer's side, because they had this very special relationship as captain and first officer. I was always really struck by that. I remember watching it and thinking, 'That's what we should be doing every week." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 151, p. 30)

In the beginning, T'Pol's relationship with Tucker was cordial, even though neither seemed to have much sympathy for the other. Upon their first meeting, T'Pol refused to shake hands with him, and Tucker once mentioned to Crewman Elizabeth Cutler – who was trying to be nice to T'Pol – that she'd have "better luck making friends with a housefly." (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Strange New World")

However, they warmed up to each other during the Xindi crisis. After Tucker's sister died in the Xindi attack on Earth, Tucker suffered insomnia, so Phlox convinced T'Pol to assist the engineer, in order to help him rest.

T'Pol's application of Vulcan neuro-pressure not only helped, but Tucker also began to develop romantic feelings for T'Pol. They had intimate relations in January 2154, though T'Pol later denied her emotions, calling it an "exploration of Human sexuality." (ENT: "The Xindi", "Harbinger", "E²")

In the final draft script of "The Xindi", a note commented about the first time T'Pol arranges for Tucker to experience Vulcan neuro-pressure, "Although on the surface of this scene, T'Pol has simply succeeded at her mission, we should sense what might be the beginning of an underlying attraction between these two characters."

Brannon Braga felt that, in "Similitude", T'Pol learning of Trip's feelings towards her without him knowing she had learned of them "set up great dynamics for upcoming episodes." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 151, p. 30)

After the Battle of Azati Prime in February 2154, Tucker was haunted by visions of Crewman Jane Taylor, a member of his engineering team who had died in the attack. He was supposed to be writing a letter of consolation to her parents but was unable to do so, as she reminded him too much of his sister, Elizabeth. T'Pol consoled Tucker, discussing the emotions he felt concerning both his sister and Crewman Taylor. (ENT: "The Forgotten")

T'Pol kisses Tucker at her wedding to Koss

Once Enterprise returned to Earth, T'Pol went on to Vulcan, asking Tucker – who complained of having nowhere to go – to accompany her to Vulcan. While there, she discovered that her mother was forced into retirement and T'Pol's old bond-mate, Koss, entered the picture. T'Pol subsequently entering into marriage with Koss (as a way to save T'Les) broke Tucker's heart. Even though the marriage to Koss was annulled soon thereafter, T'Pol and Tucker's relationship from that point forward was confusing to both of them, as T'Pol sought – after her mother's death and interest in Surak's teachings – a more Vulcan way of life. (ENT: "Home", "Kir'Shara")

Tensions culminated in November 2154, when Tucker decided to transfer to the starship Columbia. He realized his feelings were jeopardizing his work, worrying that it would further interfere with his duties. When Trip came back aboard Enterprise, T'Pol persuaded him to stay, sealing her plea with a kiss (a possible indication that she wished to continue their relationship). Afterward, Trip explained to her that he'd already requested permission from Captain Erika Hernandez, Columbia's commanding officer, to return to Enterprise. (ENT: "Affliction", "Bound")

In January 2155, T'Pol discovered that her DNA, as well as Tucker's, had been stolen by Terra Prime to create a baby (also named Elizabeth). (ENT: "Demons") After rescuing her with the help of Tucker and Archer, Phlox discovered that the child was dying, due to genetic engineering mistakes. (ENT: "Terra Prime")

T'Pol kissing Sim goodbye

Soon after their daughter's death, T'Pol and Tucker ended their relationship. Six years later, Tucker sacrificed his own life to save Archer and possibly others aboard Enterprise. Prior to his death, he and T'Pol discussed their relationship for the first time since they had broken it off, with T'Pol admitting that she would miss him when she moved on to other assignments. Following Trip's sacrifice, T'Pol received comfort from Archer as the two of them mourned their mutual friend. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

Written at a time when Tucker was intended to have the nickname "Spike", the ENT series bible said T'Pol "simply doesn't understand Spike [....]; she finds that he embodies all the baser instincts humanity has to offer."

In 2153, a mimetic simbiot of Trip, named Sim, was grown as a tissue donor. During his short life, T'Pol learned from Sim that he had feelings about her, saying he wasn't sure if he had "inherited" them from Trip. Right before Sim sacrificed himself, T'Pol visited him and expressed how much she and the rest of the crew would miss him, and then abruptly kissed him goodbye. (ENT: "Similitude")

In the final draft script of "Similitude", a scene description immediately following the kiss commented, "We begin to wonder if the moment between them is only just beginning."

While Tolaris was visiting Enterprise in 2151, T'Pol met him and was inspired by him to further explore her emotions, a subject she was curious about. She also followed his suggestion not to meditate for one night. Later, Tolaris came to T'Pol's quarters and suggested using a mind meld to help her. She, however, was very uncomfortable and told Tolaris to stop. When he did not desist, she told him to leave, which he finally did. Her abusive experience with Tolaris resulted in him and his fellow V'tosh ka'tur being forced to immediately leave Enterprise. (ENT: "Fusion")

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T'Pol occasionally joined DenobulanDoctorPhlox for dinner at the mess hall aboard Enterprise NX-01. In June of 2151, Phlox reminded her about their mission aboard Enterprise, "to make contact with those whom Humans consider new life and new civilizations." Phlox also told T'Pol that their mission is comparable to the introduction of T'Pol's new crew to her people, a cultural exchange. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident")

During this conversation, Phlox is showing T'Pol another different "view" when eating a celery stick by using his fingers instead of T'Pol's way, eating the celery with knife and fork.

In the ENT series bible, T'Pol was referred to as gravitating "toward Doctor Phlox" and the document went on to comment, "As a fellow 'outsider,' he's the only one she can confide in about her experiences among Humans. The two of them will often debate humanity and its foibles." The series bible also pointed out that T'Pol would, at one time, be given a "nasal numbing agent" from Phlox.

In the alternate timeline wherein Captain Archer was infected with interspatial parasites that caused him to develop anterograde amnesia, T'Pol received a Starfleet field commission in 2153, promoting her to captain. However, she was unable to find the Xindi weapon early enough to stop it from destroying Earth. She continued to captain Enterprise until 2156, when it reached Ceti Alpha V with the last 6,000 survivors of the Human race. She retired then, caring for the amnesiac Archer until 2165, when Phlox found a cure. During a Xindi attack, T'Pol, Archer, and Phlox sacrificed themselves to create the subspace implosion that destroyed the parasites and altered the timeline. (ENT: "Twilight")

In the final draft script of "Twilight", the version of T'Pol from 2165 was described in a sentence which commented, "Aside from her long hair and a slightly more relaxed demeanor, T'Pol appears not to have aged."

T'Pol in 2154, after being thrown back in time 117 years

In a different timeline, in which Enterprise became trapped in 2037, T'Pol eventually married Commander Tucker in a traditional Vulcan ceremony; they honeymooned in Cargo Bay 3. With Doctor Phlox's help, they had a son, Lorian. By 2153, T'Pol, approximately 183 years old, was the only original crewmember of Enterprise left; she was also more in touch with her emotions, actually hugging the past Archer when the two met. When the ship rendezvoused with the original Enterprise in February 2154, T'Pol informed Captain Archer that a plan Lorian had devised, to increase the efficiency of the plasma injectors, could end up destroying the ship. (ENT: "E²")

In the final draft script of "E²", this version of T'Pol was described as "A wizened, white-haired old woman [....] This ancient woman is actually a very old T'Pol... she appears to be nearly two hundred years old!" From then on, the character was referred to in the script, apart from in scripted dialogue, as "Old T'Pol". She was subsequently described as having "gnarled hands" and a later scene description remarked, "This T'Pol is obviously more warm and relaxed than her younger self."

The character of T'Pol was originally intended to be a younger version of the Vulcan matriarch T'Pau. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 135, p. 21) Meanwhile, a description of the character was written in the series bible for Star Trek: Enterprise. It described her thus; "Vulcan female. Austere but sensual. She's the Science Officer assigned to 'oversee' our progress. In exchange for starcharts and tactical information, the Vulcans insisted we include one of their officers on the Enterprise. Starfleet Command reluctantly agreed. Not everyone is happy with this addition to the crew. Why do we need a Vulcan watching over us like we're children? T'Pau isn't thrilled with this assignment, either. She was hoping for a Vulcan commission. The last thing she expected was to be living among a primitive, irrational species. But she's resigned to this 'hardship post' because she had no choice. She's not comfortable around the crew... or the emotions they display. Secretly, however, she will begin to envy Humans. Now that she lives among them, she can't help but develop a fascination with their cultures. In private, she likes to sample their food, and catalog their behavior. She even studies their mating customs [....] She can't stand the smell of Humans when they're anxious. She's older than everyone on board. But she won't reveal how old. Hoshi is always asking her about her age. T'Pau: 'In human years or Vulcan years?'"

While this character was still planned to be a young version of T'Pau, a character breakdown sheet that Paramount sent to talent agents, upon seeking an actress to play the part, referred to the role thus; "Late 20s, early 30s. Vulcan female. Austere yet sensual. She's the Science Officer assigned to oversee humanity's progress on board Enterprise. Although she's cautious and guarded around Humans, whom she considers primitive and irrational, she's developed a grudging respect for Captain Archer. She'll become one of his most loyal and trusted crew members." [3] The character also had the name "T'Pau" in the second draft of the script for series pilot "Broken Bow", which additionally described her as "a striking young female."

The initial concept of this character being pre-established Vulcan matriarch T'Pau was changed in series pre-production due to legal concerns. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 134, p. 76) In 2010, Braga elaborated somewhat further on the name change by explaining that the idea had been nixed in order to avoid having to deal with the "legal component" of Star Trek: The Original Series writer Theodore Sturgeon, who had created the character of T'Pau, and also because the name "T'Pol" was easier to pronounce. [4] It was considered, at one time thereafter, to make T'Pol a relative of T'Pau's. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 135, p. 21) The possibility of them being sisters was eliminated by "The Xindi", in which T'Pol states that she has no siblings, and T'Pau eventually appeared as an unrelated character in the episodes "Awakening" and "Kir'Shara".

Even though this character's name was changed to T'Pol by the writing of the revised final draft script for "Broken Bow", that script draft took cues from the descriptions in the breakdown sheet and (more naturedly) the second draft of the script. The teleplay's revised final draft not only referred to T'Pol as "a striking young female" but subsequently commented, "Her look is severe yet sensual. Although she's been living amongst Humans for several months, she is cautious and guarded around them." [5]

The role of T'Pol was the most difficult regular part on Star Trek: Enterprise to cast. Brannon Braga reflected, "The last role we cast was T'Pol. It took a lot of searching to find that actress who was at once striking and yet had an intelligence about her, who also is a good actress. It is a hard combo, for whatever reason." (Broken Bow, paperback ed., p. 255) Rick Berman offered, "We read hundreds of actresses and Jolene [Blalock] was in the last group we read. And she just blew us away." (Star Trek Monthly issue 84, p. 19) Blalock attended the casting session with no makeup on. Evaluating how good she would be in the role was based on viewing some footage of other productions she had been in, which wowed Berman and his co-workers. ("Broken Bow" audio commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD/Blu-ray)

During a press conference to announce the start of Star Trek: Enterprise, Jolene Blalock expressed that T'Pol's femininity seemed advantageous to the show, that the character was "feline in her movements" (T'Pol was likewise referred to as landing "cat-like" on a landing platform in the final draft script of "The Seventh"), and that – because Spock had been her favorite regular character from Star Trek: The Original Series – she found portraying T'Pol "really strange." Blalock also commented on the character's makeup, hairstyle, and costume, saying that the appliances took "just shy of two hours" to have put on, and that she felt they were relatively effortless while being worn. (Star Trek Monthly issue 84, pp. 22 & 23)

Initially, Jolene Blalock felt the prospect of portraying T'Pol was a huge challenge and "an enormous responsibility." She believed it was important not to fail what Gene Roddenberry had dreamt up, and not to let down her cast, her crew, or herself, either. "But in the risk of failing there's growth," she mused, "and it may be uncomfortable and I may experience growing pains, but at the end of it all I'm stronger for it and I'm watching myself grow, and it's a beautiful thing. So I'll take that responsibility [....] I am the beginning [of Vulcans]; this is laying the foundations, so everything that I do should be fresh and new. I need to create this out of originality, and I want to create it for myself." On the other hand, Blalock did take inspiration for the role from Leonard Nimoy's Spock, re-watching all of TOS in preparation for playing T'Pol. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 7, p. 17)

Shortly after the casting of Jolene Blalock as T'Pol, Brannon Braga implied he thought of T'Pol as somewhat similar to Dian Fossey, remarking, "It's 'Gorillas in the Mist' time." Braga drew that parallel because he was thinking of T'Pol as "the first alien – certainly the first Vulcan – to live among Humans." However, this concept was evidently later changed. An idea which arguably stayed the same, on the other hand, was that he and Rick Berman meanwhile regarded T'Pol as a character who would "have a long journey ahead of her," in Berman's words. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 7, pp. 17 & 19) Prior to the midpoint of ENT Season 1, he and Braga had some ideas for what they definitely wanted to have happen to T'Pol towards the end of that season. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 2, Issue 9, p. 22)

At one point during the series run, Soval actor Gary Graham suggested that T'Pol turn out to be Soval's long-lost daughter, because of her resemblance to the actor's own sister. Graham later recalled, "I thought it was a slam dunk when I suggested it, but it was never picked up." [6] In a potential season five episode, writer/producer Mike Sussman hoped to have T'Pol finally meet her father, planning to reveal to the audience that T'Pol's father was instead a Romulan agent who had posed as a Vulcan officer prior to faking his own death. The suggestion that T'Pol was half-Romulan would have shed light on her affinity for Humans as well as her interest in experimenting with emotions. (Information provided by Mike Sussman)

Given that Jolene Blalock actually has curly blonde hair, Hair Designer Michael Moore decided, without question, that she would have a dark-haired wig for the role of T'Pol. However, choosing the type of wig proved difficult. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 152, p. 30) Indeed, the original hairstyle used for T'Pol was different; for several days of filming, Blalock wore a wig that was longer than the one eventually used. When it was decided that T'Pol's hairstyle should be changed from this original one, several scenes had to be reshot to eliminate the longer wig from appearing. The character's original look can be seen on the Season 1 DVD of Enterprise, in a deleted scene.

Typically, the wig for T'Pol covered Jolene Blalock's natural hair, which was wound in a flat wrap and covered in a cap before the wig was put on. Preparing the hairstyle in this way usually took thirty minutes, handled by Enterprise stylist Gloria Pasqua Casny. (Star Trek: Communicator issue 152, p. 31)

Even though T'Pol's short wig at the beginning of Enterprise seemed like a logical precursor to Spock's haircut in the original series (with somewhat irregular bangs that echoed Spock's rigidly straight bangs), further transformations in the hairstyle took place during the run of Enterprise. "[The producers] wanted a look that was a little bit softer compared to previous Vulcans," recalled Michael Moore. "The second year, we tried to make it even softer." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 152, pp. 30-31) In the final draft script of third season premiere "The Xindi", a scene description stated about T'Pol, "Her hair has a slightly more 'casual' look." From the start of the third season onwards, T'Pol's previously blockier and dark-brown hairstyle started to be toned with lighter-color highlights and became less puffy at the top. Shortly before production on the series' fourth season began, Moore declared, "I'm hoping that in the new year, we can soften her [hairstyle] even more. The Humans tend to have an effect on her. She's becoming a product of her environment, even though Vulcans aren't supposed to do that. So, I'm hoping we can reflect that in her hair a little bit. But we still can't go too far from being Vulcan." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 152, pp. 30 & 31)

T'Pol controversially appeared without clothing in several episodes, with the most explicit example of this in "Harbinger".
The character also had more costume changes in the run of Star Trek: Enterprise than any of the other main characters. The following is an account of the clothes that she wore during the series. The first appearance of each outfit is listed but subsequent appearances of all outfits are not.

After receiving the rank of commander and a Starfleet commission, T'Pol continued to wear her civilian "catsuit" with minor alterations: teal, sciences division piping on the shoulders, commander's rank, and an Enterprise assignment patch.

In 2003, Mark Jones and Lance Parkin, writers of the review reference bookBeyond the Final Frontier (pp. 356 & 357), commented therein, "Jolene Blalock's T'Pol is criticised [by Star Trek fans] for being 'too sexy' – this despite the fact that she's a strong, rational, powerful female character, and that the actress is a keen ambassador for the show, and for Star Trek in general. T'Pol may epitomise the FHM generation of actresses, but surely that's better than any portrayal of women in either [the original series of] Star Trek or The Next Generation [....] The star of the show [Enterprise], though, is Jolene Blalock. She has a gift of a role with T'Pol, but has made the most of it. At first glance, she's merely eye candy, and indeed during the first season, the writers found little for her to do but smoulder. But Blalock's approached the least subtle of roles with a clever understatement that makes you feel that both the character and the actress are holding back for fear of outclassing those around her. She's easily the funniest, sexiest, smartest regular actor to be cast in Star Trek in 15 years, and the second season saw her get some plum drama and comedy."

T'Pol's experimentation with and addiction to trellium-D proved controversial. At the time, Brannon Braga admitted, "I know some fans are up in arms about why a Vulcan would do something like this." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 151, p. 33)